Has anyone shopped for Sencond To None? I filled out the application but it requires a SS#. On most applications you can use 000-00-0000. I just want to make sure they are legit. Thanks! Robin

Robin- STN is a legit msp. Giving them your ss is no problem. They're ok to work for, but they have a limited variety of shops and their pay is mediocre.

Robin, I agree that STN is legit. I've shopped for them for 2 years. They are limited and pay mediocre, as stated by other shopper.

I have had such communications issues with a scheduler from there that I am not even tempted by their shops and yet their coffee shops are springing up around here like dandelions.

They are a legitimate company so you don't have to worry about giving your SS number. I use to shop for them, I've moved on to bigger and better companies. All's they have are mainly [coffee chain] shops and the pay is so-so.

lmd1956, please delete the client name as the MSP is named in this thread. You can say something such as "coffee shop" or "coffee client" but aren't allowed to name the client.

They do shops regularly at my favorite grocery store...my only complaint is their editors seem to ask me questions about my mutiple choice answers without actually reading my narratives. I have done this same exact shop over 30 times, and yet 9/10 times I still get questions from their editors. After I saw this mutiple times, I started replying with a "cut and paste" from my narrative. I got a snide email back saying they just liked to verify my answers. Ummm--- isn't that why there are both MC questions and a narrative to begin with?

For the pay they offer, I hate to waste my time.

I am signed up with them, but there shops are low pay. There are other companies that pay more.

lmd1956 Wrote:
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> They are a legitimate company so you don't have to
> worry about giving your SS number. I use to shop
> for them, I've moved on to bigger and better
> companies. All's they have are mainly shops and
> the pay is so-so.

They also have a major bank chain. And the pay is so-so.

I have worked for them a long time........they are reliable by paying on time.

I am signed up to do two coffee shops for them, but unless I am reading their Q&A's wrong, it sounds like they take the first $35 you make for an "equipment fee." I have emailed them for clarification but haven't received a response yet. Has anyone that has shopped for them had any money deducted out of their pay for an "equipment fee?" Thanks! Jodi

No. They are not a good company to shop for. I no longer do shops for them. With the "equipment fee" if they need a shopper in your area the scheduler can provide the equipment at no charge. Otherwise they will deduct the cost of it from your first shops. Talk with your scheduler and this also will let you know how responsive your scheduler is.

My problem with this company was one of communications. I accepted a restaurant shop and performed it according to instructions. The shop got rejected because I did not do something which they decided was a "requirement". That "requirement" was not indicated in the instructions downloaded or the instructions sent to me by the scheduler. I protested, attaching both sets of instructions to show that there was no such "requirement". For some weeks I was sending email protests to various levels of the company with no response at all from anyone. Eventually I went back to the editor who had emailed me one small clarification about the shop and the editor changed the shop from reject to accept. To add insult to injury, their restaurant shops cover only about 2/3 of the required expenditures.

There are folks who seem perfectly happy to weigh and take the temperature of their coffee and so do the shops for a cup of coffee and a low fee.

Thanks for your relply! What kind of equipment? I am just going to get a cup of coffee.... I guess I am a bit confused. I am tempted to just blow them off - which I have never done before but if I have to basically do 5 shops for them "on the house" due to their "equipment fee" its hardly worth my time and gas money. And, its not even like I would be doing it for the coffee since I certainly wouldnt drink two coffees back to back this afternoon when its 86 degrees outside!

It's a thermometer for the coffee, I've heard.

I left them because they rejected two bank shops that had typos. Instead of sending me back the shops for correction, as they had in the past, they just didn't pay me. I found out the next month when their check arrived.

I believe it is a scale and a thermometer. But not all of their shops require the equipment. There are some that just evaluate the service that pay less and leave your cup of coffee untampered with.

I dod the SOS ones and those are super easy for the pay.

edujbald Wrote:
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> Thanks for your relply! What kind of equipment?
> I am just going to get a cup of coffee.... I
> guess I am a bit confused. I am tempted to just
> blow them off - which I have never done before but
> if I have to basically do 5 shops for them "on the
> house" due to their "equipment fee" its hardly
> worth my time and gas money. And, its not even
> like I would be doing it for the coffee since I
> certainly wouldnt drink two coffees back to back
> this afternoon when its 86 degrees outside!

You can ask them to waive the fee for the equipment. But I didn't think they were still providing the equipment anyway. YOU do not need equipment for their SOS shops. The SOS shops pay $2 less than the regular shops and the DTSOS shops pay $3 less. BUT.....you do not have to take temp/weight of coffee and you do not have to stay in the store for 10 minutes. SOS (speed of service) is just that measuring the speed of service while the regular shops are doing that and the quality of the beverage and how the associates are dealing w/customers. I have done all three kinds.....been shopping w/them for over 3 years. I like all three kinds of shops........have 3 of the regular ones tomorrow.......they are all 3 inside grocery stores.

I did 19 coffee shops,in 3 days,just after Christmas,for this lovely company,and they paid me for ONLY 1.
You have to use a credit card. I have only 1 and it was maxxed out. I called my scheduler, who had been wonderful up to this point, explained the problem and she said "I can assign the jobs to you. There will be no problem as long as you mention that you're card was maxxed out where it says if you didn't use a credit card, why not?".
Terrific! The shop I got paid for doesn't take credit cards and they know that.
I finished all my reports and a couple of days later, I started getting rejection notices stating that I would not be paid, because I had not used my credit card. I called my scheduler to ask what was going on and she said, "I never told you you didn't have to use a credit card". WHAT??? I talked to everybody that would listen and believe me, they were few and far between. I'd say, "I couldn't use my credit card"; they'd say, "You shouldn't have taken the jobs"; I'd say, "I cleared it with my scheduler"; they'd say, "She says you didn't"; I'd say, "Why would I do 19 jobs, knowing I was doing them wrong"; they'd say, "Don't know". You know darn well they used those reports. It was the end of the month and between Christmas and New Year's, who are they going to get to complete 18 jobs?
On and on, but I never got anywhere. Of course, I didn't do any work for them again for months, until one day a new scheduler called. She said how sorry she was about what happened, she knew I got rooked. She was taking over as head of our territory and she was desperate to get Job "A" done and she knew I had done it a couple of times before. Please, please, please. I said that if she knew I had done it before, then she also knew that with the exception of the 1st time I did it, I never did it again without a $15 bonus. Oh, yes, yes, she knew that and it was fine with her. I did it. Again, she called me about that job and I took it, with the bonus. Then I saw the shops come up with "White Mocha" for the beverage. I'd pour them into a container and freeze some and I'd be in heaven for a couple of weeks!
My husband works for them too and together we had a great route of 13 shops, all in close proximity. He'd do 6 and I'd do 7. Some were so close we could do them at the same time. So, we applied! He got 2 and I got 2!. I picked up the phone and cancelled those jobs. Without a doubt they are the at the top of my "Worst Companies I Have Worked For" list.
By the way, I did not pay for my equipment, which is a scale and a thermometer.

I do, too, shop for this one. It seemed a lot to pay for the equipment but it's worth it if you like coffee. The time in store is not too bad, reasonable for the price they pay.

I haven't had any problem with my scheduler so far as I tried to walk in the rule. During weekend, you can shop like 10 shops and freeze coffee for other days like sandilynn said.

They don't pay much but compared to gapbuster which the scheduler is coming down from out of the world once in a while and hard to reach when you need them the most. Answer email when they feel like it.

I'd stay with this company for a while. They are the most reliable scheduler I experience. I guess depends on who you got.

I love this company.....have done over 150 coffee shops w/them. Sorry others have had problems but I have oNLYL had one shop rejected due to ME not allowing enough time between shops. I did three today. The shops are easy...the forms a snap and pay is reliable and on time. They also will bonus nicely at end of month.

Definitely it depends on who you get as a scheduler. And that is true for all MSPs. There are useful schedulers and there are ones that are just a waste of time.

Flash Wrote:
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> Definitely it depends on who you get as a
> scheduler. And that is true for all MSPs. There
> are useful schedulers and there are ones that are
> just a waste of time.


Definitely agree w/you on that one. I have Ryan here and he is absolutely wonderful. I have Jill for GFK and she is soooo flexible. Bestmark, WASH seems to get a new scheduler every other month......just got an email from our newest one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2008 03:05AM by bugspost.

bugspost Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Flash Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Definitely it depends on who you get as a
> > scheduler. And that is true for all MSPs.
> There
> > are useful schedulers and there are ones that
> are
> > just a waste of time.
>
>
> Definitely agree w/you on that one. I have Ryan
> here and he is absolutely wonderful. I have Jill
> for GFK and she is soooo flexible. Bestmark, WASH
> seems to get a new scheduler every other
> month......just got an email from our newest one.


I get the same 2 schedulers as you. Ryan is good.. so far.. Ha!
Sorry, i'm probably still wounded from gapbuster. Everybody seems good in the beginning till something happens.

I really like my GFK scheduler and I WISH that Bestmark would get me a new scheduler. I've had the current one loooooong enough.

I love this company and my scheduler, Lorri, is super!

They are legit. You can look at all of the other, more recent threads about STN by clicking on the link below .

I don't know if it's been mentioned somewhere else, but it irks me that they don't have reimbursement on their doughnut shops anymore. I feel like if you are required to buy something, it should be reimbursed - not a "flat fee, no reimbursement." I think you may even come out ahead on the pay vs. the old way (on the in-store shops, I never did the drive-thru mess) --- but I still don't like it. It just feels incorrect.

This is a perfect thread to show how different we shoppers are. I never do the eat in donut shops but I will do every drive-thur shop I can get for the donuts. Usually 1 or 2 each month.

As for STN - I have never had any problems and I do approximately 10 shops each month for them. They are not the highest paying for the shops I do but it's all money I would be spending anyway.

I agree with gogogirl. The DT is really easy and I used to do 1-2 every month. I stopped doing them after my daughter moved away, because she was taking the donuts to share with her college friends. I do not need a dozen donuts in my house!

HA. I like the eat in ones but hate the DT. The timings are hard to me and the photos are tough to get discreetly.